Genomics Specialist Careers: Meet the Clinical Bioinformaticians

Clinical bioinformaticians work to make genome data clinically actionable; to make sense of large amounts of data so that other healthcare professionals can use it to inform decisions about diagnosis, treatment and care. They straddle the worlds of biology and computer programming to provide a vital link in the patient pathway. They are collaborators and communicators, working with a large multi-disciplinary team and applying different techniques when considering each patient.
This film showcases what the work of a clinical bioinformatician involves, the kind of traits and skills required, and some of the challenges facing both those working in the profession and the NHS more broadly.
Professor Andy Brass, who leads the HSST and STP programmes in bioinformatics, introduces the field of clinical bioinformatics, its joys and challenges and the requirements in an individual. He explains the great need for more clinical bioinformaticians in the UK.
Sirisha Hesketh of Oxford Medical Genetics Laboratories explains where the clinical bioinformatician's role comes in in the patient pathway and the vital importance of bioinformatics to sift through large amounts of genome data and home in on what might be important for each individual patient.
Sanjeev Bhaskar of Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine explains that clinical bioinformaticians can be thought of like librarians, categorising and indexing large amounts of information and making it accessible to those who need it.
Anthony Underwood, previously of Public Health England, talks about routes into the profession and the need to combine knowledge of both computer science and biology to answer questions and solve problems. Eileen Gallagher, who has recently completed the STTP in Bioinformatics (Genomics) talks about the demands of the job and the misconceptions about the role amongst many in the health service, including other scientists.
If you're interested in learning more about bioinformatics join our fantastic 'Introduction to Bioinformatics' course here: www.genomicsed...
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Health Education England's Genomics Education Programme is developing a substantial education programme to inform healthcare professionals about the impact of genomics on clinical practice. This video is the one of the many educational resources from the programme.
For more information visit www.genomicsed...